Kuzul

Exhibition games rarely are predictive, but on March 18, 1954, the New York Giants faced the Chicago Cubs at Phoenix in a seemingly meaningless game that was a template for the upcoming season.

Willie Mays blasted a home run and added a pair of doubles, while recently acquired young left-hander Johnny Antonelli hurled four innings, struck out five Cubbies, and didn’t walk anyone.

Although the Cubs managed a pair of runs against Antonelli, the significant factor was that he didn’t walk a batter.

Antonelli’s performance was his first solid outing of the spring. The former Milwaukee Braves bonus baby had walked 12 in his first five innings, which prompted manager Leo Durocher and Frank Shellenback to shorten Antonelli’s stride.

The win was New York’s sixth straight in the Cactus League.

Monte Irvin was leading the club with a .437 batting average, followed by Willie’s .436 with six home runs. Durocher told reporters that Irvin was a great state of mind ever since Willie returned because Monte had his room mate back.

Willie Mays and Johnny Antonelli would lead the Giants to their first pennant since 1951, but of much greater significance, the duo would play important roles in the team’s first World Championship since 1933, when they defeated the Washington Senators.

Mays won the National League batting title with a .345 average, led the league with a .667 slugging average, and won the MVP. In the 1954 World Series against the Cleveland Indians, Willie hit .286, had a .444 on base average, and turned the World Series around with the catch off Vic Wertz in the first game.

Antonelli had a spectacular season. He won 21 games, led the league in ERA (2.30), ERA+ (178) and fewest hits allowed per nine innings (7.3). Despite the fact that Johnny was only 24 years old, he hurled 258 2/3 innings because it was 1954, not 2010.

In the World Series, Johnny started the second game and allowed one run, beating Early Wynn, 3-1 in a complete game victory. Two days later, he came into the fourth and final game for Hoyt Wilhelm in the eighth inning, shut out the Tribe, and earned the save as the Giants swept the highly favored team from Cleveland.

Today, exhibition games, often called “preseason” games in an attempt to camouflage the fact that they don’t count, are really training sessions. Winning is unimportant, which makes a team’s record meaningless.

But in 1954, teams really did try to win exhibition games. The Giants-Cubs game in which Mays had three extra base hits and Antonelli demonstrated that there was a chance he might not be a wild left-hander can be looked back upon as the game that would define the Giants’ 1954 season.

References:

Baseball Reference

By LOUIS EFFRAT Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. (1954, March 19). ANTONELLI STARS IN 9-TO-6 VICTORY :Giants’ Southpaw Strikes Out Five Cubs and Walks None in Four-Inning Stint. New York Times (1923-Current file),p. 26. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 84113677).

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On Jan. 13, 1954, the New York Giants received some great news. Willie Mays was being discharged from the duties involved in defending freedom three months earlier than expected.

An army spokesperson explained that freedom defenders who held professional contracts or who wanted to return to college qualified for early release under a selective service rule that covered such situations.

Willie received his freedom at the beginning of March. He had spent 21 months in the army. Stationed at Ft. Eustis, the New York Giants center fielder played two seasons of service baseball where he, as usual, excelled.

In 1952, Mays batted a gaudy .420. His batting average and outstanding play really did remind some individuals of the great Ty Cobb. The following season, Willie batted “only” .389.

Arriving at the Giants training facility in Phoenix, Willie immediately signed a contract without even looking at the numbers. For the young Willie Mays, baseball, not money, was the name of the game. How things have changed.

The contract called for a $13,000 salary, which was the same as the one that expired when Willie left the Giants.

Manager Leo Durocher was almost beside himself now that Willie had returned. “What a difference Mays makes. Just look around. Everyone’s hustling. Everyone’s alive. You can thank Willie. He’s great. Just great.”

Later in the clubhouse, Durocher went out on a limb.

“I’ve been around a long time. I’ve seen the great ones, DiMaggio, Moore to name a couple. Willie is their equal on the field. Catch, run, throw, come in, go back, scoop up grounders, he can do all these things. Now in hitting, I can’t tell right now. Let’s give him a few more seasons.”

A few weeks later, the Giants were scheduled to play the Cleveland Indians in an exhibition game in Las Vegas. The game was rained out (yes, it does rain there), which gave Indians great Bob Feller a chance to evaluate the Giants, who had finished a distant fifth in 1953, 35 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Feller emphasized the Giants pitching problems, but thought that if Sal Maglie and Larry Jansen returned to form the Giants would have a chance to win the pennant, a statement that most baseball writers took with more than a grain of salt.

The 35-year-old Feller was asked about Willie.

“Willie has a chance to be a good ballplayer. Now he has a tendency to swing at high bad pitches. Changes of speed seem to fool him. He seems to be swinging from the heels too much.

“Mays is a little behind Mantle. Willie does not have as much power as Mickey has. Mickey has overcome his tendency to swing at bad pitches from the left side. I think Mickey is better as a right-handed hitter. He rarely goes for a bad pitch from that side.”

After 11 games, Willie was batting .429 with six home runs and 17 RBIs.

Willie had an excellent attitude. He was eager to improve.

“Gosh, I wish people would come to me and tell me what I do wrong in center field every day. There are a lot of things I’ve got to be told.”

References:

Good News for Giants. (1954, January 14). New York Times (1923-Current file),35. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 83316762).

GIANT OUTFIELDER EN ROUTE TO CAMP :Mays, Discharged From Army After 21 Months Service, Flying to Phoenix. (1954, March 2). New York Times (1923-Current file),28. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 83747908).

By LOUIS EFFRATSpecial to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. (1954, March 4). LOCKMAN, GOMEZ ARRIVE AT CAMP :Noble Only Member of Giants Absent at Phoenix — Mays Gets $13,000 Contract. New York Times (1923-Current file),35. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 83322625).

By LOUIS EFFRATSpecial to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. (1954, March 21). Feller Rates Giants Highly As Rain Keeps Teams Idle :GIANTS ARE RATED HIGHLY BY FELLER. New York Times (1923-Current file),S1. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 92555206).

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The recent sad news about Sparky Anderson has unfortunately made it clear that the baseball world is about to lose one of its most beloved people.

Sparky’s one of a kind, no doubt about that. Luckily for us, when it comes to other beloved baseball personalities, he’s hardly alone.

Here are the top 25 beloved people in baseball history.

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Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants, the 2010 Major League Baseball champions.

By wiping out the Texas Rangers, the Giants won their sixth World Series and first since moving to San Francisco in 1958.

It has been a long time coming for the San Francisco Giants. Just how long has it been?

Let’s have a look.

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Voted on by baseball fans and members of the media, the Roberto Clemente Award has been given annually since 1971 to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individuals contribution to his team”. 

Named after 12-time All-Star and Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente in 1973, the award was named after Clemente died on New Year’s Eve 1972 while trying to deliver supplies to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.

Each year, a panel of baseball dignitaries selects one player from 30 nominees, one from each team. Some of the past receipts of this award were such baseball greats as Mays, Carew, Ozzie Smith, Kirby Puckett, Albert Pujois and Derek Jeter.

This marked the eighth time Wakefield was nominated by the Red Sox, but the first time he’s actually won.

The 44-year-old righty was recognized for his selfless actions on Thursday, accepting the award at a news conference at AT&T Park in San Francisco prior to Game 2 of the World Series between the Giants and the Texas Rangers. 

When you think of Tim Wakefield, you think of two things: his dependability and his famous knuckle-ball that’s kept him in the majors all these years.  

Wakefield broke into the majors in 1992 with the Pittsburgh Pirates (ironically the team Clemente played his entire career with). He has been with the Red Sox since 1995.

Wakefield has helped those in need in both Boston and his home of Melborne, Florida. Since 2004, the knuckle-baller has been affiliated with Pitching in for Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing specifically earmarked grants designed to improve the lives of children across the New England region. The program encourages kids to participate in special events and to learn crucial life skills. 

Every year, Wakefield is among or near the top of the list in community appearances by Red Sox players. Before every Tuesday home game, he runs the Wakefield Warriors program, in which he invites children from the Franciscan Hospital and the Jimmy Fund to visit with him and watch batting practice.

Wakefield and Pitching in For Kids has helped Franciscan Hospital raise more than $900,000. Wakefield participates in the Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon, which last year raised $4.5 million.

Wakefield is a 193-game winner in the Majors—179 of those wins coming for the Red Sox. He made the All-Star Game for the first time in 2009 and is the longest-tenured member of the Red Sox. Only Cy Young and Roger Clemens have won more games in a Red Sox uniform than Tim Wakefield.

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Of course we could all speculate on the greatest moments in World Series history.

But as you will see, I’ve taken moments from many different eras and tried to compile what I believe to be some of the World Series’ greatest moments.

Some may surprise you, and others were probably forgotten about.

Let’s take a look.

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It’s time to make the cuts. Spring training is over, the contracts have been signed. Now it’s time to play some ball.

But who should actually play? There have been a lot of great players in San Francisco Giants history.

Bonds, Mays, McCovey, Cepeda.

The list goes on endlessly. But let’s cut it down to the best 25. How would you put a roster together?

How many pitchers do you carry? How many lefties?

I need a backup catcher, don’t I?

No matter how you build a team, you need to have a solid base and a pitching staff that will carry you the distance.

This will illustrate the entire pitching staff, bench, and starting lineup.

Let’s see what it looks like.

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The New York Giants were established in 1883. In 1958 the club moved out west, becoming who they are today – the San Francisco Giants.

Along the way, there have been many fun players, many great players. Some players we hated, and loved to boo and heckle. Many players stuck around for a season or two at best, while others played their entire career for the Giants.

Who is your favorite Giants player?

Giants’ fans everywhere have their own opinion about how they would rank their favorite players.

Who is number one? What about number 2? 3? This list can go on. How do you rank these players?

When you think of the all time great Giants, are you including the New York Giants?

In the pages to come we will discuss my list of The Top 100 Giants of All Time.

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In today’s game of free agency and rebuilding sell-offs, it’s extremely rare for a player to stick with a team for much more than about a decade. Stars come and go, and the team’s is the only name that lasts through a fan’s lifetime.

But some players leave behind legacies that continue to capture the hearts of their fans long after they hang up their cleats.

Last week, Bleacher Report’s MLB Featured Columnists completed our hardest poll yet: picking the top players in the history of each NL franchise (for the AL results, click here).

Each voter was asked to name the top three players for each team, scored on a 3-2-1 basis. The greats were then ranked by points, with the number of first-place votes (in parentheses next to the vote totals) as a tiebreaker.

Some of the results were pretty predictable—I don’t think saying Hank Aaron and Willie Mays won for the Braves and Giants is much of a spoiler. But some of the winners were harder to see coming, and how the rest of the lists filled out was fascinating.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Note: I sent this survey only to the Featured Columnists who have been active in previous polls. If you are a new FC or you have changed your mind about wanting to participate, send me a message and I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop for next time!

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The ultimate hero of the 1951 NL pennant race has passed away.  Bobby Thomson, the Flying Scotsman, died peacefully Monday night at his home in Savannah, Georgia.  Thomson played 15 seasons for 5 teams but is best remembered for his “Shot Heard Round the World” in the 3rd and deciding game of the 1951 NL playoffs. Thomson’s three-run blast in the bottom of the ninth inning capped what is thought by many to be the greatest pennant race in the history of baseball.

On August 11th 1951 the Giants stood 13 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the National League standings. The Giants went on to win 37 of their last 44 games and tied the Dodgers after the regular season ended.

After splitting the first two games the third game was played at the Polo Grounds on October 3rd, 1951. Thomson faced Ralph Branca that day and hit the 0-1 pitch into the lower deck in left field. Thomson, ironically, had hit a two run homer of Branca in the first game of the series.

Hall of Fame Giant announcer Russ Hodges made the dramatic call that day of Thomson’s home run. His “The Giants Win the Pennant” call rings down through the ages. The Giants had not only won the pennant–they had beaten the Dodgers.

On deck that day was a young rookie who was hoping to not have to come to bat. Willie Mays went on with the Giants to become the greatest player in their long history.

A picture exists of a Dodger player staying in his position to make sure everyone touched all of the bases. Jackie Robinson held his ground until he was assured that the runners had all touched properly. Several years later Robinson was traded to the Giants but retired instead rather than joining the hated Giants.

Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca made many appearances together over the years and made a small livelihood of signing autographs.

Rest in Peace Bobby, all Giant fans will never forget you.

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